NESC fights for NE trafficked victims

Published: Sunday, October 12, 2008, 13:32 [IST]

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Imphal, Oct 12 (UNI) The NE Support Centre&Helpline has criticised the government for failing to provide women officials to accompany five female victims of human trafficking on their arrival at Chennai and Kolkata from Kuala Lumpur.

After a month-long struggle with the Indian and Malaysian government, the five victims from Manipur and Assam finally reached their respective states yesterday.

Dr. Alana Golmei, a social worker and a brother of one of the victims were not allowed to meet them when they reached India, NESC Secretary, Mr Madhuchandra said.

He also blamed the Indian Foreign Ministry for not arranging women officials to accompany the victims. A male official accompanied the girls adding to their trauma, he said.

Singapore-based Abel and Joe Networking Pte Ltd. (www.abelnjoe.

com) company through its newly opened branches in North East India, reportedly wooed 150 girls from the region with the promise of jobs in Singapore. Five of the victims who managed to escape, arrived at Imphal yesterday. They were also recruited by Abel and Joe Networking Pte Ltd. and kept for three months in Singapore without any work. Later they were taken by the traffickers to Malaysia.

The victims sought shelter from the Indian High Commission, Kuala Lumpur, after they realized they were being trafficked. Later they took shelter with Pastor David and his wife in Kuala Lumpur.

Earlier on September 29, a delegation led by Public Affairs national Secretary of All India Christian Council Dr. Sam Paul along with Madhuchandra, and Ms. Lansinglu Rongmei,president of North East Support Centre&Helpline, met representatives of the National Commission for Women, High Commission of Malaysia and Union Minister of Tribal Affairs P R Kyndia and requested them to appeal to the concerned Indian and Malaysian authorities to repatriate the helpless girls.

NE Support Centre&Helpline appealed to the Ministry of External Affairs, North East state governments and South Asian countries to watch over the activities of Singapore based Abel&Joe Networking Pte Ltd. and ban their branches operating in the NE region.